Study of home listings shows (garage) size matters

A study by website realtor.com shows that buyers tend to pay a premium for homes with extra-large garages.

The study compared asking prices for homes listed for sale during the first 10 months of the year

The realtor.com study found that the asking price was 11.45 percent higher for homes with a three-car garage than for homes with a one-car parking capacity.

Most homes listed for sale had two-car garages, and those with three-car garages tended to be larger and more luxurious, Javier Vivas, economic researcher at realtor.com, told the Wall Street Journal.

Compared to homes with one parking space, the asking-price premium jumped to 31.4 percent for homes with a seven-car garage.

During the recession of the late 2000s, developers built a larger share of luxury homes with big garages as they catered to wealthy households, Stephen Melman, director of economic services at the National Association of Home Builders, told the Wall Street Journal.

“Most people who purchase a home with six, seven, even more garage bays—they’re really very likely to be either collectors or auto hobbyists,” Melman told the newspaper.

Designed to appeal to car collectors, a five-bedroom home in San Martin, California, listed for $1.9 million. The house has parking for a total of 25 cars with its a two-car garage located beneath a guesthouse, another garage with an electric charger big enough for eight cars, and a 3,000-square-foot “shop” equipped with hydraulic lifts. [Wall Street Journal] — Mike Seemuth